After midday prayers, the atmosphere grew even more charged when officials from Hamas and other militant factions addressed the worshipers, urging them into the fray and claiming — falsely, to all appearances — that the fence had been breached and that Palestinians were flooding into Israel.
Hamas officials vowed that the protests would continue, but also hinted at the possibility of a military strike at Israel by the group’s military wing, the Qassam brigades, a response that could bring about another Gaza war.
Israel said no Palestinians had crossed the fence, but said it had repulsed several unsuccessful attempts by Hamas to have armed fighters slip across into Israel and wreak havoc — which Israel has maintained all along has been the true military objective of Hamas.
At least three separate squads of armed fighters “tried to use the commotion and smoke and dynamics of the riots as concealment, and then launched an attack on the fence,” said Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces.
One Israeli soldier was wounded by shrapnel from what was believed to be an explosive device, he said, and a variety of explosives were hurled at the Israelis by Palestinians. There had been “numerous shots” fired at Israeli soldiers, the army said.